New Orleans, the Big Easy, for many was set to be the answer to the future pub trivia question of “where did the Kansas City Chiefs secure the first ever Super Bowl era three-peat” but that’s not how it turned out. Quite the opposite in fact, with the Philadelphia Eagles cruising to a Big Easy win & chalking up a Super Bowl win for the NFC in the process.
After the Chiefs made their way to another Super Bowl appearance (yawn) through a combination of fortuitous officiating calls against the Texans (roughing the passer, yeah right) & their yearly sneak past the Bills they were set to make history that had eluded even the GOAT, Tom Brady. The Eagles however punched their ticket through their unstoppable run game & the infamous Tush Push making light work of most regular season opponents then the Packers, Rams & Commanders in the playoffs.
Under the gaze of two of the most polarising figures of current times, Taylor Swift & President Trump, the battle for the Lombardi Trophy played out in a way not many foresaw (yours truly picked the Eagles after watching a lot of NFL this season so…) with the Eagles establishing a big lead & dominating the game thought the majority of all 4 quarters.
On the Eagles second drive their famous brotherly shove helped them to a 7-0 lead, which they extended with a 48 yd field goal in the 2nd quarter to go up 10-0. With the Chiefs faltering on every drive the Eagles continued to press home their advantage adding a further 2 touchdowns including a pick six, before the half to rack up a 24-0 lead before Kendrick Lamar took to the stage. At this point thoughts of Brady’s comeback against the Falcons must have been stirring through the Cheifs’ fans heads as Serena Williams strutted her stuff, but nothing in that 1st half pointed to that idea / possibility having legs.
In fact as soon as the 2nd half began, the Eagles dispelled the very notion of a comeback with 4 straight scoring drives keeping the scoreboard ticking over moving from 24-0 to 40-6 sealing to deal with 3 further FG’s & a TD with the Chiefs only answer in that stretch a single TD. Such was the Eagles dominance that their back-up QB played out the rest of the game & while the Chiefs added 2 TDs each with a 2 point conversion to bring the score to 40-22 it didn’t much hide the absolute hammering they’d just received.
And so as the ticker tape fell on the worthy champions, who also got revenge for their defeat at the hands of the Chiefs that started the three-peat campaign in 2023 in Arizona, thoughts turned to what comes next. Is Kelce going to continue (yes)? Can Mahomes recover from this awful showing (I’d imagine so)? Will Coach Reid continue to do cringeworthy ads (I hope so, they’re fantastic)?
The Eagles are being pencilled in as the team to beat for 2025, & rightly so as their ground & air game was something to behold this season & looks set to continue again next season, even if teams look set to challenge the legality of their famed 4th & short or goal to go juggernaut of a play-call. They managed to make the Chiefs look less than ordinary, & yes the Chiefs played well below themselves on the day but throughout the season they had managed to find a way to win when it mattered: this time however no last minute made or missed FG or beneficial referee decision (yes yes I’m still bitter about the Divisional Round defeat) was going to help, they were simply blown out the water from the get go by an unrelenting Eagles team.
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